News - #14 NOVEMBER, 1998

The Latest News... Now that the initial promotional period for Bayou Ruler is winding down, we're all catching our breath and enjoying a more relaxed schedule. We're awfully glad to be spending more time at home! As you can see from the schedule, we'll be trying out some new places, such as Opelousas' Delta Grand and the Civic Center in Mamou. Of course, you'll find us in our more familiar spots as well. We're especially looking forward to New Year's Eve at Grant Street Dance Hall. We encourage everyone to join us for a great party on this special evening. Congratulations to our trusty sound technician Geoff Thistlethwaite and wife Michelle who gave birth to Henry Frere Thistlethwaite on September 1. His arrival could not have been better timed, as Papa Geoff had just returned from Denmark (literally just hours before). Apparently 'T-Frere" is somewhat less convenient in his timing for feedings. Geoff gets the graveyard shift on the days he's home. Regarding the snail mail newsletter mailings, is your first name missing on your address label? If so and you want it corrected, either call, email or write us with the info. Sorry about that! We're still recovering from a computer death. Also, you may be wondering why you haven't received the snail mail newsletter. We only mail to people in the regions that have upcoming gigs. We also have a select list of people, nationwide, who receive every newsletter. You can join this exclusive club simply by mailing a token donation of $2 to offset the postage. Since the last newsletter, we've had two amazing trips to Europe. We started with a London pub crawl-first the folksy and well-attended Weaver's Arms, which we played several times before, followed by Gaz Mayal's trendy little So-Ho cave underneath the St. Moritz Club. Gaz introduced us as "the band everyone in 'Americer' is talking about, and soon Europe will be talking about, too!" Despite the hyperbole, the gig was fun and gave us a chance (and a pleasure) to meet three brothers of the English Bayou Ruler, Tarka Cordell. Then, the Cambridge Festival found us hobnobbing with long-time heroes like Taj Mahal and Nick Lowe. Nice fellas. And thanks to Cambridge, we found a doctor who would look at Kevin's throat infection and get him some antibiotics. Our performance and interviews were carried live nationwide on radio, and BBC-TV filmed us for broadcast on "Later with Jools Holland" which is comparable to the David Letterman Show in popularity across Britannia. We then went on for a fun gig at Suzy Weston's Bognor Regis, which is down on the English Channel. After the gig, husband Tony took good care of us, our laundry and our stomachs, while Suzy headed back to the Sidmouth Fest for more Cajun dancing. We then flew onto Germany, and spent a week in the heart of former East Berlin. Our Heimtklaenge hosts, Borkowsky, Susan, Mathias and Alice (a Schwarz but no relation), took great care of us. Berlin is one of the most happening cities in the world. Reunification, a massive construction boom and an intense hunger in Berliners for art and music make it a very exciting place to be - especially with 3,000 people coming every night just to see us. As one reviewer put it, our music went "straight to the dance leg." Speaking of dancing, Don Brassieux and Kelli Roberts came along with us and did a fine job, wowing the crowd with some smooth moves. It was great to bring Don on his first trip overseas (even though he kept whining...something about having to dance 4 or 5 songs each night?). Hopefully we'll get to play in Germany again. We did get to see Susan once more, as she brought a film crew to Louisiana in September and we re-lived our wonderful visit with her while doing some taping at Whiskey River Landing. Thanks to all you folks who helped us out with the video! Nice dancing. It was back to Europe in late August for Denmark's great Tonder Festival. So organized and yet so laid-back, Carsten and Anni again treated us like royalty. We played an intimate acoustic show in the Visemollen, the town mill celebrating its 400th anniversary (built about the time the Acadiens were heading to the new world). There were so many great musicians there. Our best time was with our language-mate band, Quebec's La Bottine Souriante. We talked their horn section into backing us on a monster jam. Imagine four horns and piano on New Orleans Beat. Then, imagine 2,000 screaming Danes! By the way, La Bottine will be in Lafayette this coming April for Festival International. We highly recommend you catch them. Labor Day with the new Rhythm and Roots Festival was a grand success, warm and familiar yet with new promise of success to come. We did our best as hosts. The late-night jams in the tent with Geno Delafose and Balfa Toujours were too cool for words. It was a fitting close to the summer festival season to come home for Festivals Acadiens. The energy of 800 people packed into Grant Street just lifted us through the roof on Saturday night. And then the next day, we sat onstage in Girard Park, playing the late Octa Clark's Back o' Town Two Step just like it was meant to be played. But we didn't sit for long. By the end of the set, we were rockin' with a spirited tribute to Walter Mouton. Over ten years and countless shows, we've never felt better about our performance. The reward (other than the roar of the crowd) was seeing Dick Richard playing fiddle with Walter...the stuff of legends. back to news